In the age of the internet, we’ve seen the digital completely transform industries. E-books changed the publishing community. Digital music revolutionized the record business. Social media altered how we interact with friends and brands. E-mail has become a primary source of communication. You might think you should follow the trend and eliminate some printing costs for your practice by switching to an e-mail only version of your practice newsletter. Before you cancel the print order for your newsletter, though, pause. Making this marketing tool e-mail only is actually a mistake.

It’s true, e-mail is a major form of communication. Most people do business or handle important details in their life using it. There are, however, a few key problems that limit the effectiveness of an electronic newsletter.

The first problem is that it’s very easy to forget about messages in your inbox. Think about your own habits, doctor. Many people quickly check their messages when they’re busy, only paying attention to the most urgent ones. A patient can open your e-mail and think, oh, I’ll look at this later when I have time and close it. After that, though, it’s “out of sight, out of mind.” Nothing is continually reminding that person that the newsletter is sitting in their inbox, waiting to be read.

As new e-mails come in, too, your newsletter gets lost in the flood of other messages that demand immediate attention. Newer messages push your newsletter close and closer to the bottom, until it’s lost to the second page of the inbox, where it may never be seen again.

The second big problem is that many people dislike reading things on a screen. They might tolerate it for important e-mails, but they’d rather hold a physical object and look at a printed page to enjoy articles. They aren’t even going to bother looking at your electronic newsletter, which would mean an entire portion of your list that you’re missing an opportunity to connect with every single month.

By having both an electronic and a print option for your newsletter marketing, you make it far more likely that your articles will be read and passed on. A physical copy of the newsletter gets left on a counter until someone picks it up and reads it, or passes it to an aunt or grandmother with aching feet. You and your practice become a more present part of your patients’ lives.

Putting together and printing a newsletter can be a lot of work, yes, but it’s worth it when it’s done right. You don’t have to figure it out by yourself, either. The Top Practices Podiatry Practice Newsletter program has successfully created customizable newsletters for practices all over the US that can easily be both e-mailed and physically sent out. If you’d like to know more, contact us! You can e-mail [email protected] or call (717) 725-2679.